Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-09-19

and about noon the were able W
reach the safe. This was opened as speedily
"a possible, as there was a great
desire to know how the books had Jared.
To the great relief of the officials OF the
they wero found to be in a legi-
BILE condition, although the backs and
edges were badly charred from the effects
of the intense heat. The company had
established a temporary office on the first
floor of the Bags building, in Bridgeport,
and thither the books were removed, and
together with the other records OF the con-
Germ, were put in something like order by
Secretary Thompson. Later in the day
the following circular letter was issued to
the patrons of the Company;
OFFICE OF
LABELLE GLASS COMPANY.
BRIDGEPORT, Ohio, Sept. l9, l8s7.)
GENTLEMEN: Our factory was, on the
evening of September II, entirely destroyed
by fire, except our two furnaces, which
we have succeeded in holding in blast.
We will Immediately commence to rebuild
and expect to be able to fill orders for the
lines of goods made by us prior to our loss,
within forty days from this date. Very
respectfully, LABELLE GLASS Co..
|. A. THOMPSON, Secretary.
The Company, as q matter of fact, have
not vet made up their minds what to do.
A great deal depends upon the condition
of the stack and pots in the furnaces. 1t
was thought at two o'clock yesterday al
ternoon that the pots were all right, and
if this. is so, the Company will probably
attempt to lease a factory somewhere and
90 on with the manufacture Of glass,
pending the rebuilding of the ruined
works. Tho loss to the Company fully
iustifes the estimate made in the
REGISTER yesterday morning, and
will not be far from 800, coo. The in
surance is $54, 500, mostly in foreign COM
panies. 4 representative of the Company
stated last evening that a statement OF the
insurance in detail had not been given to
anyone, but he thought about 5, 900 OF the
amount had been placed in the j. V. l..
Rogers agency, of this city; SEQ, 600 with
F. C. Robinson, of Bridgeport; s., 900 with
the Wheeling Underwriters; So, 900 with
the Howell agency, of Bridgeport; $4,000
with Crafty, of Bridgeport, and the re-
mainder he could not give, "a he spoke en-
tirely from recollection.
During the day the insurance agents had
a force OF men at work rescuing the bar
rels of glass from the waters of the Back"
| river, several hundred packages having
been rolled over the steep bluff by the vol
unteer iremen as the only possible chance
of saving the stuff from the intense heat.
Some of the goods thus rescued from the
flames is supposed to be in a damaged con-
dition, and all of it is wet, but its value
/ will not be definitely known until a COM
| plete examination has been made. About
two hundred barrels in addition to what
was rolled over the bank was rolled south
along the railroad tracks, and this Is
thought to be all right, 1t was stated yes
terday, however, that as is usual on such
| occasions, the ware saved was the least
valuable of that stored in the warehouse,
and therefore, the salvage will not be very
large, even if most of the packages saved
Ave their contents in an unchanged con-
dition. ..o,o.or. vbo vVe,.
The thousands OF sp> asid To
attracted to the scene yesterday are
have carried off a large amount of glass
ware, the people evidently looking upon
the stuff they picked up as lawful spoils.
The heat from the fire Saturday night
was very great. Even at points along the
Island shOre not less thar 800 feet from the
burning works, spectators describe the heat
"a equal TO that thrown out from an ordi-
nary CRATE fire at a distance of half a dozen
feet, and N the vicinity OF the blazing
buildings it was scOrching in its severity.
The ties of the G. d p. track were fired for
a long distance, and two or three rails were
badly twisted. Trees on the hillside were
set in a blaze at half a dozen points, and
the green wood was still burning last even
ming, while the trees and bushes were wilt
ed for hundreds OF feet along the hill.
1t was suggested yesterday that had the
Niagara engine, instead Of going over the
back river bridge, been attached TO q plug
at the west end of Ohio street, on the
island, and two lines Of hose carried
across the almost dry bed of the river, the
warehouse and stables could have been
saved. However this might have been,
no Que will intimate that Chief DunniDg
did not do what he thought best when he
crossed the bridge. The laying of lines Of
hose through the bed of the river in the
darkness would have been a tickllsh job
to men unfamiliar with the locality, and
by the time it could have been accom-
plished the buildings would perhaps have
been 50 far gone as to make the effort to
save them q futile one.
In another quarter the thought was
thrown out that the destruction OF the
LaBelle works was another warning TO
manufacturers of the bad plicy OF locating
their concerns out in the country
to avoid the payment of the mu-
nicipal taxes, and thus being at the mercy
of every slight fire which started in the
plant. More than once yesterday the ex-
preston was heard "If the LaBelle
works had been inside the limits of this
city they would no have burned down"
This is probably true, for the Wheeling
department, while not so strong as it
might be in one or two particulars, is
wonderfully Efficient, as the very small
annual fire loss in this city bears abundant
witness.
Regarding the origin of the fire, little of
q definite nature is yet known. The COM
pany is inclinsi to think that natural gas
is responsible in some way, but probably
the true cause will never be known. Be
that as il may, the community on this side
of the river s~ympathize deeply with the
company and the town of Bridgeport in
the loss sustained, and all will concur in
the hope that the LaBelle may be speedily
re-established.
Hutchinson s RemlInger's Patent Fire